We are entering the final month of one of the most unique years in the history of mankind. A global pandemic has turned the world upside down, transforming how we see work, travel and socially interact. It has had a significant impact on Financial Advisors as these trends unfold. Today, we are looking at areas that saw a surge in FA searches the past two days. The data encompasses a key area, the last day of November and the first day of December, in which FAs search for 2021 rotational themes.
- Trivia Question: This key read on market risk tied its lowest level in over a decade today. Can you name this metric?
The month end rotation has been trending towards a global tape as we are seeing a weaker dollar, steepening yield curves, and strength in Emerging Markets and Metals. We are certainly seeing the global theme play out as FAs forage through ETFs with exposure to Emerging Markets including: EFG, INDA, ACWI, XSOE, EFA and EWJ. A second key theme, and one we will concentrate in this piece, is the search for quality in Small-Cap names.
TrackStarIQ Data
Here are some highlights of research surges* this week –
| RANK | TOP ETFS – BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week | Ticker | TOP STOCKS BY RETAIL (Surge Traffic) This Week | Ticker | TOP INDUSTRIES BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week | TOP ETF CATEGORIES BY ALL FAs (Surge Traffic) This Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF | EFG | New America Energy Corp. | NECA | Industrial organic chemicals, misc | Volatility Hedged Equity |
| 2 | Invesco S&P SmallCap Low Volatility ETF | XSLV | Auris Medical | EARS | Textile Mill Products | Precious Metals |
| 3 | iShares Russell Top 200 Growth ETF | IWY | Antibe Therapeutics, Inc. | ATBPF | Floor laying and floor work, misc | Transportation Equities |
| 4 | Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight Health Care ETF | RYH | Aaron’s Inc | AAN | Book publishing | Preferred Stock/Convertible Bonds |
| 5 | iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF | IWF | Healthier Choices Management Corp. | HCMC | Trusts, misc | Japan Equities |
| 6 | Invesco S&P 500 Pure Growth ETF | RPG | L-1 Identity Solutions Inc | ID | Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. | Mortgage Backed Securities |
| 7 | iShares MSCI India ETF | INDA | China Automotive Sys | CAAS | Semiconductors and related devices | Leveraged Currency |
| 8 | Direxion Daily S&P Biotech Bear 3x Shares | LABD | Plyzer Technologies Inc. | PLYZ | Medicinal and botanicals | Diversified Portfolio |
| 9 | Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF | BND | Corporacion America Airports Sa | CAAP | Staffing & Employment Services | Latin America Equities |
| 10 | Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF | SPHQ | All For One Media Corp. | AFOM | Farm Products | Metals |
| 11 | iShares MSCI ACWI ETF | ACWI | PPJ Healthcare Enterprises, Inc. | PPJE | Business services, misc | National Munis |
| 12 | WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund | XSOE | IHS Markit Ltd | INFO | Beverages – Non-Alcoholic | Asia Pacific Equities |
| 13 | Renaissance IPO ETF | IPO | Aquabounty Technologies Inc | AQB | Computer Hardware | Utilities Equities |
| 14 | JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF | BBMC | Moleculin Biotech CS | MBRX | Custom computer programming services | Consumer Staples Equities |
| 15 | ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation ETF | HTEC | Apollo Endosurgery Inc | APEN | Security & Protection Services | Leveraged Volatility |
| 16 | Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund | XLP | Tdh Holdings Inc | PETZ | Leisure | Health & Biotech Equities |
| 17 | ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 | SPXU | CBD Life Sciences Inc. | CBDL | Recreational Vehicles | Energy Equities |
| 18 | Aptus Defined Risk ETF | DRSK | Supercom Ltd | SPCB | Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries | Commodities |
| 19 | iShares MSCI EAFE ETF | EFA | XXStream Entertainment, Inc. | XMET | Discount Stores | Currency |
| 20 | iShares MSCI Japan ETF | EWJ | Synnex Corp | SNX | Crude petroleum and natural gas | Inverse Equities |
*- Surge data is based on the average traffic from the past two days compared to the average traffic from the previous market week.
We want to highlight Invesco’s S&P Small-Cap Low Volatility ETF (XSLV) as this captures our second theme. The fund invests 90% of its total assets into securities that comprise 120 companies with the lowest realized volatility over twelve months in the S&P Small-Cap 600 Low Volatility Index. Industrials represent the largest segment at 21.7% of the fund led by Heartland Express (HTLD). Information Technology is 21.5% of the fund with MicroStrategy (MSTR) the heaviest weighted name. Financials (16.2%), Consumer Staples (9.8%), and HealthCare (9.6%) also have significant weighting. The name suggests FAs are particularly interested in high quality Small- and Mid-Cap names heading into 2021.
Other names of interest include:
- iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (EFG): Top ETF search by ALL FAs. The EU makes up 50% of this index and Japan also has significant weighting at 26.6%. This tracks investment results from developed markets, ex U.S. and Canada. It invests at least 90% of its assets in securities of the underlying index and in depositary receipts.
- iShare Russell Top 200 Growth ETF (IWY): #3 in ETF searches by all FAs. This offers exposure to large U.S. companies whose earnings are expected to grow at an above-average rate relative to the market. This is a beautiful chart on the weekly and is potentially poised for a breakout.
- iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI): #12 in ETF searches by all FAs. This tracks investment results for Large and Mid-Cap developed and emerging market equities. This ETF recently broke out above key resistance ($84) on its weekly chart.
Trivia Answer- Extra credit if you were able to get this right as it is not necessarily a popular metric, but the 10-day moving average for the CBOE Total Put/Call ratio is at 0.69. This is the level the ratio was at on September 2 of this year.